product release

XperienCentral R45

September 13, 2024

In Release 45, we’re introducing a key improvement in the assignment of designs to page versions to improve the user experience.

Design templates on page versions

Previously, designs were set at the page level, meaning that changing the design on a new, unpublished version would also affect the live version. To improve the user
experience and prevent this issue, we’ve now implemented design management on a page version level. This ensures that design changes can be safely applied to
specific page versions without impacting the live version. We’ve also considered the inheritance of designs to underlying pages to ensure consistency when designs are updated.

Here’s how it works:

  • On a page version, the design can be inherited from the parent active (or planned, if no active version exists) page, or a design template can be selected directly.
  • These settings can be passed down to underlying active (or planned, if no active version exists) pages in the hierarchy.
  • Planned pages can inherit or pass down design settings to other planned pages, provided they have a later modification date than the active version. Older planned pages are excluded to prevent confusion and ensure consistent design assignments in future publications.

In practice, if you want to apply a new design to a portion of the page tree,
follow these steps:

  1. Create a new version for the pages that need the new design.
  2. Open the new version of the page at the top of the hierarchy.
  3. Apply the design to this page version.
  4. Select in the hierarchy which subpages should or should not inherit the design, if necessary.


All selected pages that are planned and have a later modification date than the
active version will automatically inherit the new design. Newly planned versions within the inheritance structure will also immediately use the new design, so step 1 can be done partially later. If you want a specific page version to have a different design, simply disable inheritance for that version and choose a design template directly.

Cleaning up deprecated components

In this release, we’ve removed deprecated components. This helps ensure that the system is better prepared for future updates and expansions, while also making it easier for developers to work efficiently and implement changes. The full list of removed components can be found in the upgrade notes. If any of these components are still being used in custom code, it is important to update them to maintain compatibility with future versions of the platform.

Bugfixes

  • We made sure that language labels are not recreated after a migration.
  • We have improved the responsiveness of the Audit Trail Panel.
  • Notification emails are now reliably sent for failed or interrupted import/export jobs.
  • The "Close Session" buttons are now fully functional.
  • Selecting content items for custom properties in Modular Content Elements now works seamlessly.
  • The Advanced Search selection for Media Collection Elements now functions as expected.
  • Bulk tag changes for shared tags are now applied successfully.
  • Predefined list sorting in the Modular Content panel has been improved.
  • Language label changes on secondary channels are now properly updated in the cache.
  • The editor's performance has been optimized to prevent freezing when using lists in layout loops.
  • Imported content items now include the correct layouts.
  • Links to database pages within content are now functioning properly.
  • You can now successfully add database references to content items.

Improvements

  • A search facet for database references has been added.
  • Node.js and npm are now required for building XC.
  • Usernames stored in the audit trail and layouts for deleted users have been removed.
  • 'Assertive' and 'Polite' tones have been added to error messages in forms.
  • Entity manager performance has been improved by reducing JCR session saves.
  • IAF editor performance has been improved.
  • JCR caching efficiency has been improved.
  • The Credential Provider has been expanded to work with secrets.

GraphQL

  • Added support for filtering and sorting Modular Content properties.
  • Redirects have been added.
  • Discussions are now supported.
  • A better-performing alternative for the JCR observation listener has been created.
  • UUID caching has been added to improve performance.
  • Disabled content types are now hidden in XC.
  • Modular Content Type names are now consistent.


Want to read on? Visit our documentation portal for in-depth insights and guidance on the latest release. Contact our team at GX for support.